Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina and the 18th largest in the United States, with a population of approximately 610,949 (2005 estimate). The Charlotte metropolitan area (MSA) had a 2006 estimated population of 1,594,799. As of 2005, Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury region (referred to locally as "Metrolina") had a combined statistical area (CSA) population of 2,420,745. The city is at the center of one of the fastest growing metropolitan regions in the United States, with an average influx of roughly 40,000 newcomers each year over the past decade, and over 80,000 in the year 2005. Charlotte has become a truly diverse city. Charlotte is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, and is located in south-central North Carolina, near the South Carolina border. Nicknamed The Queen City (which it shares with Cincinnati, Ohio and Buffalo, NY), Charlotte was named in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III of United Kingdom. After being driven out by the fierce opposition of the city's citizens to British occupation during the American Revolution, General Cornwallis famously wrote Charlotte was "a hornet's nest of rebellion." A resident of Charlotte is referred to as a Charlottean.